Leasha West, Top Insurance Authority and Executive, to Address the United Nations

Leasha West, President,and Founder of West Insurance & Financial Group, Inc. will address the Global Entrepreneurship Initiative gathering at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City June 14-15, 2016.

West is a highly decorated Marine Corps veteran and prominent philanthropist. As a 10th generation Marine, West continues to serve as a tireless volunteer and sits on the National Board for the Women Marines Association and is the incoming chair for Pretty Lake Camp. As a result of Leasha’s outstanding volunteerism, she was awarded the President’s Volunteer Service Award by President Barack Obama. In addition to her community involvement, West is an award-winning and multiple best-selling author.

As one of 20 industry leaders invited to speak, West said, “It’s such an honor and a privilege to have the opportunity to address the Global Entrepreneurship Initiative, especially from a platform such as The United Nations. An intergovernmental organization to promote international co-operation, its objectives include maintaining international peace and security, promoting human rights, fostering social and economic development, protecting the environment, and providing humanitarian aid in cases of famine, natural disaster, and armed conflict.”

Adding to her accolades, Insurance Business America Magazine picked West as one of North America’s Elite Women in Insurance. Additionally, she was selected as America’s PremierExperts®, is a multi-year member of the Million Dollar Round Table, and was named to the Circle of Excellence by the Women in Insurance and Financial Services.

During the Second World War, US President Franklin D. Roosevelt initiated talks on a successor agency to the League of Nations, and the United Nations Charter was drafted at a conference in April–June 1945; this charter took effect 24 October 1945, and the UN began operation. The UN’s mission to preserve world peace was complicated in its early decades by the Cold War between the US and Soviet Union and their respective allies. The organization participated in major actions in Korea and the Congo, as well as approving the creation of the state of Israel in 1947. The organization’s membership grew significantly following widespread decolonization in the 1960s, and by the 1970s, its budget for economic and social development programs far outstripped its spending on peacekeeping. After the end of the Cold War, the UN took on major military and peacekeeping missions across the world with varying degrees of success.